Guru Gobind Singh (1666 – 1708), the Tenth Guru, was an outstanding example of the Sikh ideal of the “Soldier-Saint.” A courageous warrior, he was also an inspired poet, and a prolific writer. He is remembered as a valiant defender of the poor, the meek and the oppressed masses of India.
At the tender age of 9, when Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was approached by the Kashmiri Brahmins stating that unless a noble soul sacrificed his own head, they would be liquidated by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Gobind Rai suggested to his father; None could be worthier than yourself to make such a sacrifice. After the martyrdom of his father Gobind Rai became the Guru of the Sikhs in Vaisakhi 1676. He gave attention to the mastery of physical skills such as riding, hunting, swimming, archery etc. and literary accomplishments in several languages. As the last Nanak, it was His duty to the Lord to fulfil His divine purpose, which started with the advent of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
His early life was spent protecting the Sikh faith in Battle against the Hindu Hill Raja’s who wanted to kill Guru Gobind Rai, from the illustrious Battle of Bhangani; 1688. These attacks on the Guru were a reoccurring trend, as the Guru was always successful in Battle.
The archetypal Form of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, of which the dark blue clothes, the pure steel arms, the lance, the white hawk, the jewel aigrette and the dark blue horse are the most known factors to Sikhs. Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji is mainly renowned for establishing the Order of the Khalsa, which he declares is the ‘3rd faith’, an employee of Colonel David Ochterloney writes: From that day he, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, parted with marks of Brahmanism, and put on dark-blue clothes and pure-steel accoutrements, and assumed a strange aspect. He became fully armed, wore two swords, a dagger, iron battle-discus, pistol, bow and arrows and other arms made of pure steel. He tied his turban in a high cone of one hand altitude… he promulgated the shouts of Akal, Akal.
Shri Guru Gobind Singh indicated and affirmed that nothing less than that he, in his mortal form, was merely a transformation of the Divine Will in Its all-pervasive Cosmic aspect and that, “it was this Divine Will which was the Founder of the Order of the Khalsa”.Guru Gobind Rai begged the 5-predecessor Singh’s to become the 6th member of the Order of the Khalsa, (and was accepted) and duly renamed Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. He ordered the recipients of his baptism to wear the 5K’s and not to commit the 4 grave breaches of his order. Additionally, and most importantly, He imparted his Singh’s to follow all injunctions as laid down from his 1st manifestation. (See SikhPolice e-mail on the advent of Shri Guru Nanak Devi Ji; SikhPolice FAQ November 2007).
In December 1705, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his Sikh’s were set upon in full fury by the Hindu Hill Chiefs and their ally the Mughal Government. It was then that Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s two youngest sons were separated from him, and mercilessly executed at the ages of 7 & 9 in Sirhind. (For further details please see Shri Mata Gujari SikhPolice Award – SikhPolice November 2007 FAQ).
In December 1705 Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji was yet again attacked by the Mughal Government, however, due to the role of 40 Sikh (the 40 saved one’s), Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji repulsed the attacks. In 1706 Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji prepared a fresh recension of Sikh Scriptures with the celebrated scholar Bhai Mani Singh. In 1708, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his Singh’s met a Bairagi recluse; Madho Das. Within moments, Madho Das Bairagi became an ardent disciple of the Guru, and was renamed Banda Singh having become a Singh, (Baba Banda Singh Bahadur; later to rule a sovereign Sikh Kingdom in the Punjab; 1710-1716). And sent him to the Punjab with his 5-arrows to dispel the despots, to avenge the merciless killings of the Guru Khalsa’s 2 young children; to obtain a just government of Singh’s, for the betterment of all.
Nawab Wazir Khan of Sirhind (later executed by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur), the same despot who had killed the 2 youngest sons’ of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, sent 2 mercenaries to assassinate the Sikh Guru. One Pathan stabbed the Guru below the heart, and was then executed by the Guru and the other Pathan was chased and executed by the Singh’s. Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji had received treatment for this stab wound by an Englishman Cole by name. Before he departed, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji sent for the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, to quote Bhatt Vahi Talauda Parganah Jind: Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the Tenth Master, son of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, grandson of Shri Guru Hargobind, great grandson of Shri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, of the family of Shri Guru Ram Das Ji, Surajbansi, Gosal clan, Sodhi Khatri, resident of Anandpur, parganah Kahlur, now at Nanded, in the Godavari country in the Deccan, asked Bhai Daya Singh, on Wednesday 6th October 1708, to fetch Sri Guru Granth Sahib. In obedience to his orders, Daya Singh brought Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The Guru placed before it five coins and a coconut and bowed his head before it. He said to the sangat, “it is my commandment: Own Sri Granthji in my place. He who so acknowledges it will obtain his reward. The Guru will rescue him. Know this as the truth”.
Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji thus passed on the succession with due ceremony to the Holy Book, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, ending the line of personal Guru’s. It was only through the Word that the Guru-ship could be made everlasting. The word as contained in the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was henceforth, and for all time to come, to be the Guru for the Sikhs. The custodians of which were the Republic Order of the Khalsa.
For further reading: Prachin Panth Prakash. Rattan Singh Bhangu